This invention relates, in general, to measuring change of weight of a material, and more particularly, to thermal gravimetric measurement of moisture content in a porous material.
Determination of moisture content in materials is of such importance in so many fields that a wide variety of devices and analytical methods are used. The traditional method for measuring moisture content in solids and non-volatile liquids is thermal gravimetric. In a thermal gravimetric system a small sample of the material is carefully weighed and then the material is dried by the application of heat thereto and re-weighed after drying. Any difference in weight is indicative of the moisture content. The drying process may be simple exposure to ambient air or in some cases a drying oven may be used. In the past thermal gravimetric measurements were done manually by an operator and were very time consuming and in most cases somewhat inaccurate. More recently, systems have been developed which require fewer operator manipulations but still require periodic operator calibration and adjustments of the measurement system. Such adjustments are not only time consuming but are prone to human error. In view of the foregoing, it should now be understood that it would be desirable to provide an improved thermal gravimetric system that is highly automated, time saving, and highly accurate.
Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a system capable of measuring the moisture content of a material using a microprocessor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a thermal gravimetric moisture content measurement system capable of providing wet basis or dry basis output information.
A further object of this present invention is to provide a self calibrating weight measuring system.